The Spectre and the Eluvian
by BahamutReishiki
Summary: Throughout her exploits Jane Shepard collected many souvenirs from across the galaxy. It came as a surprise when her latest trophy turns out to be much more then a simple millennia old artifact. What is she to do when she encounters a gateway to not just another world but another time? This is going to take a while.


Hello and welcome all my faithful readers. Some of you might have expected me to update **Journey of Spirits** or **Key through the Soul** but this idea has been bugging me for a while and so I had to write it. This story is an entirely different concept from my earlier, failed, attempted at as Mass Effect and Dragon Age crossover so I hope this one is much more popular and/or successful. I appreciate any ideas and critiques about this story. If I find an idea awesome enough to put in I will credit the suggester accordingly. Enjoy the story and don't forget to review.

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_**Chapter 1**_

Jane Shepard tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator descended at a snails pace. They had enough funds to buy a Thanix Cannon, improved shielding, and Silaris heavy ship armor with credits to spare but Cerberus couldn't pitch in and design a faster elevator? Jane was certain the old elevator on the first Normandy was quicker then this one. Stairs would have been fine at this point. Sighing in resignation she opened her comm. channel, "Joker, did Liara say why she wanted me to come down to the hanger?"

The pilot's voice answered a moment later accompanied by a burst of static, _"I don't know. It was hard to tell with all the excitement in her voice."_

The elevator passed by the Crew's Quarters, "Excitement?"

"_I'm not positive but I think I heard giggling. And bouncing. There may have been some bouncing. I'm not sure about anything else since EDI disabled all the cameras in the hangar ever since I…you know…but could you do me a favor and take a picture if there is bouncing?"_

"Joker…"

"_I'm serious commander. There's a betting pool going around and my money's on bouncing."_

Jane slapped her forehead as the elevator pinged again. Only one more deck now, "Joker, if you want to see Liara so badly why don't you just come down here yourself?"

"_Nice try commander but I did enough hobbling to last me several lifetimes. Besides I know if I show my face down there Liara will flay my mind or worse…"_

"Worse?"

"_She's the Shadow Broker right? Which means if I annoy her she could blackmail me with anything and I mean anything. She could even make stuff up and I'll believe it."_

When the elevator dinged to let Jane know she arrived she let out one last piece of advice, "Don't worry too much about it Joker. I'll make sure to keep Liara from destroying your life too much."

"_Always glad for the support commander."_

Jane left the elevator and made her way towards the center of the hanger. The entirely back area had been cleared to make way for what she had taken back from Kopis. Standing near the relic was the newly minted Shadow Broker, Liara T'Soni, busy typing away at a hastily erected terminal. It was a relief for Jane to see her focus so intently on something besides revenge. Despite everything that happened over the past two years and becoming an information broker Liara was still an archeologist at heart and nothing could change that.

It seemed that Liara was so enraptured by her work and the data streaming across the screen that she did not notice Jane's arrival. Walking up behind the asari she asked, "So what you find?"

To Liara's credit her shoulders barely stiffened, "Please don't do that Shepard."

Jane waved her off and took in the large circular silver mirror that nearly reached the top of the hanger. She had wanted to display it in her cabin alongside her other knick-knacks and souvenirs but was annoyed to find it too big to fit. Nevertheless she was determined to bring it back with her. The polished surface reflected everything with a slightly concave reflection, giving anyone who looked into it for too long a headache from the constantly shifting angles and features. Something like that wasn't possible and yet it was standing right in front of her. Her first thought was that it was a reaper artifact but a quick analysis from Mordin and EDI determined it was nothing but a highly polished silver compound previously unknown.

"I'm actually glad you came Shepard," Liara bit her lip softly as she continued to read whatever was streaming on the holographic screen, "This artifact is unlike anything I've seen made by the Protheans. In my decades of study I haven't seen anything quite like this."

"Really?" Jane asked and tried to read what was on the screen only to quickly develop a headache from constant stream of complex numbers and figures, "An unknown Prothean artifact? This must be like Christmas for you."

Liara looked away from the screen, "What's Christmas?"

Jane groaned in frustration, "It's a…you know what, never mind. You find anything about this thing?"

"There is little to work with," Liara pointed to the script encircling the polished surface, "The written language is unlike anything found to date. I've compared it to other intact Prothean relics from various eras and found something quite disturbing. Take a look."

Liara tapped something on her omni-tool and four separate images appeared in the air. The one on the left was clearly from the artifact while the other three were unknown to her.

"The first one is from the artifact while the other three are from progressively recent eras in Prothrean history ending with the last modification to their written language some two centuries before the reapers arrived. As you can see these three symbols exhibit normal social evolution due to language development. The symbol from the relic is only vaguely similar to the others."

"So what does it say?"

"My first attempt to decipher the writing met with failure. Unlike the Prothean's phonogram form of writing, the number and frequency of the symbols suggest a logogram format, which is must more difficult to decipher," Liara sighed and rubbed one eye, "The only conclusion I can make is that the Protheans based their language on this system without actually understanding the meaning behind the symbols. That means that this artifact is much, much other than the Protheans. Shepard, whoever constructed this may have spurred on the rise of the Prothean civilization."

Jane sat down in a nearby chair and yawned, "You don't seem very excited about this Liara."

Liara turned to her and Jane could see the weariness in her face that was previously hidden, "I am actually quite jubilant about this and would gladly celebrate the overhaul of hundreds of years of history but I've spent the last twenty hours trying to decipher this language nonstop. Perhaps after a quick shower and some rest I would be more…energetic, if you will."

"Will there be bouncing?"

"Bouncing?" Liara asked confused before she scoffed and sat back in her chair, "Joker. Of course he would say something like that."

"Don't be too hard on him. He still thinks of you as the naïve and shy archeologist who couldn't tell the difference between telling the truth and lying."

"That's not funny!" Liara blurted out embarrassed, "Do you know how many embarrassing things I said?"

Jane nodded. Ashley had said, in her choice words, just how many secrets the naïve and socially awkward asari had, "Why are you angry at Joker?"

"Perhaps my state of exhaustion is making me irritable," Liara yawned and shut down her console, "That aside, I sent my findings to several trustworthy and prominent archeologists at the Universities of Armali and Serrice to see if they could make anything from the writing. With any luck I should get a reply within two standard galactic days."

Jane wasn't buying that excuse at all. She still remembered Liara staying up for days on end during the hunt for Saren, apparently an asari can go for nearly three days without getting sleep, "Come on Liara, what's really bothering you?"

"It's everything that's going on Shepard," Liara sagged in her seat, "Even with the Shadow Broker network now under my control and with its nearly limitless resources at my disposal to help fight the reapers what if that isn't enough? We can't be the first cycle to have prevented the reapers from arriving when they wanted too. What if they have contingencies for just such an event? The Collectors are proof enough that the reapers don't just sit around and wait. What if this isn't enough and our struggles are pointless? I'm scared that everything we do is not going to make a difference when the council doesn't even actually the reapers existence."

"And?"

"So what if the reapers know what we're doing," Jane continued, "So what if they know our every move and how we fight. That doesn't mean I'm just going to lay down and let them kill me or worse. If I'm going to die, I'm going to do it fighting and kicking. Besides, we don't even know just how much time we have. It could be days, weeks or even years. You know how large space is Liara. It could take the reapers centuries to travel to the galaxy and you could be the one to prepare everyone for it."

Liara smiled, "Perhaps you're right Shepard. I can't just give up because the odds are against us. Maybe some sleep would help get my head on straight."

Jane laughed and helped her to her feet, "Whatever happened to that fabled asari endurance?"

"I will ignore that but there is one more thing about this artifact that puzzles me Shepard," Liara clenched a fist as her hand was enveloped in what appeared to be blue fire. Swinging her arm, the biotic warp flew through the air and impacted the relic. Jane expected it to cause damage or, at the very least, knock it over but the biotic attack simply disappeared into the artifact like a rock falling through water.

"Whoever constructed this did so with a novel material that conducts biotic energy like nothing I've ever seen. Not even the Protheans were this capable. It absorbs biotic energy and converts it to an electrical pulse before releasing it back into the environment."

True enough a moment later a large spark shot out from the edge of the surface and hit the floor, leaving a large scorch mark on the metal plating, "Wait a second. You were the cause of the loss of power before?"

Liara looked embarrassed as she answered, "I was trying to examine it and used my biotics in an attempt to lift it off the ground. I didn't expect it to absorb the energy. It must be some sort of protection."

"Just don't do it again. I can't afford for the Normandy to fall apart after the suicide mission."

Liara didn't answer as she called the elevator down. Before following her Jane took one last look at the artifact standing ominously in the hanger of the Normandy. Perhaps it was a bad idea to bring it on board in the first place.

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For some reason Jane always found the engineering deck to be the quietest place on the Normandy. Apart from the soft and constant hum of the Tantulus Core the entire deck was quiet. That had not been the case when Jack had lived in her makeshift room. Donnelly had actually recorded some of her curses and language and it was intense enough to make the ever-stoic Samara blush in shock. Jack had eventually found out about it and attempted to kill whoever recorded her but Jane had pinned the blame on Cerberus. It wasn't like she cared about the Illusive Man in the slightest.

Walking through the deck Jane could hear another failed attempt of Donnelly to ask Daniels out. Sure enough his usual roundabout way received a quick and affirmative no from his fellow engineer. Ignoring them for the moment Jane found who she was searching for.

"Hey Tali. What did you want?"

The quarian engineer continued working at her station for a couple more seconds before turning around .Jane could see from the way Tali was wringing her hands together that she was quite nervous.

"Shepard," she said before stopping and taking a deep breath. Jane really needed to help break Tali's nervous habits, "A few hours ago I received an urgent communication from Auntie Raan. The Admiralty Board is demanding that I return to the Migrant Fleet at once."

"What do they want this time?" she asked. Jane wanted to be more annoyed with the quarians after accusing Tali of treason for what her father tried to do but couldn't find it in her to get angry with Tali, "I thought they didn't want to have anything to do with you after your trial?"

"It's Admiral Xen," Tali refused to look Jane in the eye, "She managed to salvage some of my father's work and created a countermeasure to the Geth's firewalls and anti-virus algorithms."

"I thought we destroyed all traces of his work?"

Jane could see why Tali was so nervous about telling and getting her involved. It was disconcerting to find out that after everything they had gone through to stop the Collectors and the reapers from returning the rest of the galaxy still refused to listen, "They're still gearing up for a war with the Geth despite everything?"

"I tried to tell those bosh'tets but they wouldn't listen," Tali cursed, "I want to take back Rannoch just as much as they do but why fight the Geth when they will just give it back to us? Even after I showed them the data Legion willingly gave me they still didn't want to back down. I don't know what to do Shepard."

"Well," Jane thought her words through very carefully, "If I were you I would go back to the Migrant Fleet."

From Tali's reaction Jane could see that the quarian was not expecting the commander to say that, "Your admirals have their heads so far up their asses that they can't see the Geth for what they truly are. If you go back you might be able to mitigate some of the fallout or even prevent the war. Legion is probably doing the same thing. I'm sure the Geth don't want to fight any more then you do."

From the way Tali's posture changed Jane could tell the quarian was relieved, "Thank you Shepard. I want my people to get their home back…to step on the dusty soil of Rannoch without these suits…but at the same time I don't want to destroy or enslave the geth. Legion has showed me so much of what the geth have become. It's funny, a month ago I would have been all for fighting the geth but now I'm advocating for their freedom."

"I'll be the first to admit I didn't expect Legion to be what it was," Jane said with a shrug, "But, then again, did you expect to find a talking geth on a not-so-dead reaper that kept parts of my armor as souvenirs?"

Tali smirked and turned back to her station, "I suppose not. If I didn't know better I would say Legion was embarrassed that you asked about it. Thanks again Shepard."

Jane turned to leave but right before pressing her hand against the holographic lock turned and said, "By the way, he likes chocolate."

"Chocolate? What does that-" Tali's eyes widened and she slumped over, her hands covering her faceplate in utter embarrassment, "Keelah…you actually heard that? How?"

"It wasn't that hard when you mumbled over and over again what he liked. I think almost everyone knows about your little secret."

Jane laughed and quickly left Tali alone before the quarian died of embarrassment. She would keep Tali's little crush a secret a secret but it was the rest of her crew that she needed to be concerned about. EDI probably knew about it from all the Cerberus bugs around the ship but would respect Tali's privacy. Mordin would probably know about it but deem such knowledge trivial and not his problem. Miranda probably knew from Kelly but as long as Tali stayed followed on the mission she wouldn't step in. If Tali was going to get over this fear of hers she needed some motivation and finding out her crush's favorite food was a good start.

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Before embarking on the suicide mission to the Collector Base the small cafeteria on the Normandy SR-2 had been one of the loneliest places on the ship. Most members of the crew preferred to eat Gardner's cooking, when it was edible, in their quarters but now that the threat against the human colonies and the galaxy in general was stopped for the moment, everybody took the chance to relax. One sign of this was a new hustle and bustle in the cafeteria. Jane sat at her table and stared at the plate of meat that Gardner had dared to call 'real bovine steak' with a suspicious look. Steak wasn't supposed to be purple.

"Now that the Collectors are blown to spirits knows where and Harbinger is having the computer version of an aneurism there is just one last thing to be worried about Shepard."

Jane looked up from her steak and looked at Garrus. The food in front of him looked even less edible but the Turian was eating it with a satisfied grin. How could Gardner be more adept at making food for turians than for humans?

"What's that?"

"Isn't this all strangely familiar? Fighting across the galaxy to stop an invasion from the reapers, no one to rely on except ourselves."

Jane was beginning to get annoyed, "Just what is it you are implying Garrus?"

"Last time you had the crew together and stopped a reaper you died. I don't think your spectre insurance covers two deaths."

"Very funny Garrus," Jane was not amused, "Don't you have some calibrating to do?"

"If only," he sighed, "Ever since Tali and Legion managed to create that targeting algorithm I've found myself having more and more free time."

"I thought you liked it," Tali asked with all the confidence of a kicked puppy. It was clear that the quarian had poured her heart into that program, "I made it just for you."

"It's fine Tali but what am I going to do with all my free time?"

"You can always wait for the reapers to show up," Jane chimed in.

"There's no way I'm going to get between you and a two kilometer long eldritch ship. Besides I thought Harbinger's interest in you was special."

"Don't remind me," Jane speared her food, "It's like a bad stalker. It's unnerving enough as it is."

"Although," Garrus trailed off, "I could try and find my own reaper. I suppose it can't be too hard."

"That sounds really dangerous and stupid Garrus," Tali said.

Garrus smiled, "Ah but that's the kicker. Harbinger always tried to bring Shepard back alive. If I get my own reaper pen pal I don't have to worry about dying."

"He has a point Tali," Jane confessed, "I can't count the number of times Harbinger had me dead to rights."

"How dare you! It is priceless historical artifact and you want to sell it?"

The mess hall grew deathly silent. Jane swiveled in her seat and saw the other crewmembers ignoring the voice. Rubbing his mandible with a clawed finger Garrus groaned, "Here she goes again."

"For the hundredth time I will not tell you!"

Jane turned to Tali and saw the quarian adjusting her auditory input to block out noises above a certain decibel level, "What's Liara shouting about?"

Tali and Garrus shared a look, "Apparently Kasumi has been bugging her to find out how much that Prothean artifact you picked up on Kopis is worth."

This was the first time Jane heard of this but the anger in Liara's voice suggested Kasumi had tried before, "How long has this been going on?"

"Let me check Shepard. According to this, the first argument was almost 32 hours ago," Tali stated.

Jane gave her a condescending look, "This has been going on for over a day? Why haven't I heard about this?"

"It started out small Shepard," Garrus explained, "The first couple of times Liara just ignored her or politely told Kasumi to leave."

"I should stop them before they tear apart the ship. Anyone want to help?"

The deafening silence said enough but what made it worse was Tali's answer, "And get a biotic blast to the face? I don't want to die Shepard."

Jane turned to Garrus, hoping that he would help her but deflated when she saw the turian studying something intently on his omni-tool. He seemed to notice her gaze and said, "I would help you Shepard but I really need to do something important. Maybe another time."

Mumbling 'traitors' under her breath she stood up and began walking towards Liara's temporary quarters. Jane had offered her Thane's old quarters in the life support control room now that he had gone to live the remaining months of his life with his son but Liara had taken one look and proclaimed it was too arid for her due to some type of asari physiology. With everything happening Jane now thought it was because Thane's room happened to be right next to Kasumi's and Liara didn't want to sleep right next door to one of the galaxy's best thieves.

As she arrived at Liara's quarters Jane moved her hand over the green holographic interface. It was strangely quiet and that was never a good sign. After several seconds the door slid open and she only had a moment to duck before a chair was biotically thrown out of the room.

"What the hell Liara?" she shouted over the sound of metal crashing. Jane waited for a reply, any response really, but was stunned when Kasumi's voice whispered from behind her, "Sorry for this Shep."

A pair of slender hands wrapped around her chest and Jane found her body lifted off the ground, "I'm really sorry about this Shep but I don't really want to die today."

Jane was about to order Kasumi to let her go when Liara appeared in the doorway, "Using Shepard as a human shield is low, even for you. Put her down now!"

"Hmm…" Kasumi hummed and Jane could feel the smile on the thief's lips, "Nope. I don't think so. You wouldn't hit the commander just to get to me would you?"

Before any bodily harm could befall her Jane managed to pull herself out of Kasumi's grip, "What's the big deal Liara?"

The archeologist turned Shadow Broker did not release her biotic energy as she answered, "The problem, as you so eloquently put it, is that this thief is trying to steal a priceless artifact out from right under your nose and you do not see it!"

Jane glanced at Kasumi and saw the thief giving the worst impression of an innocent child, "She is?"

"Hey now," Kasumi raised her hands up as a gesture of peace, "All I wanted to know was how valuable it was Shep and your girlfriend went ballistic."

"Liara," Jane said with a bit of frustration, "That thing weighs nearly two tons. I don't think Kasumi would be able to steal it even if she wanted to."

"You obviously don't know her that well Shepard," Liara countered and began fiddling on her omni-tool After a moment she brought up a holographic image of a statue, "Did you know that Kasumi was once able to steal a priceless Asari statue, nearly fifteen feet tall and guarded by asari commandos, in broad daylight without anyone noticing?"

"She did?" Kasumi had said she was the best because no one knew who she was but to find out she was this good was shocking.

Kasumi had the decency to look embarrassed from the unintended compliment, "To be honest Shep, it was a lot harder then it looked. Besides I would never steal from a friend of yours. Thieves honor and all that."

Jane looked at Liara, "Is that good enough for you?"

For a few seconds Jane nervously watched the blue glow of Liara's biotics but to her relief they faded away, "As you wish Shepard but if I find her anywhere near the artifact there will be consequences for the both of you!"

"I didn't know you cared about me," Kasumi chuckled and Jane sighed as a chair flew by her head, barely missing the thief.

"Please stop throwing things Liara unless you want to pay for them."

Kasumi whistled and turned to leave, "I guess that's my queue to go Shep. Don't want to overstay my welcome and all that. Give my love to Liara."

Jane watched Kasumi vanish as her tactical cloak flickered into existence, "That went well."

"She is just so incredibly frustrating Shepard!"

"Kasumi does that because she knows it annoys you," Jane sat in one of the few remaining chairs in Liara's room, "But she does bring up a good point. Just how valuable is that thing anyway?"

If looks could kill Liara would have murdered Jane several times over. As a familiar smirk appeared on Liara's face Jane had only a moment to realize just how much trouble she was in before her body was enveloped in a biotic field. Despite her valiant struggling no amount of muscle or force could free her from the mass effect field.

"Damn it Liara! Put me down!"

"As you wish Shepard."

The world spun as Jane was thrown out of Liara's room. As she skidded to a stop she looked back and saw the holographic screen outside Liara's room turn from green to red. It was obvious the asari didn't want anything to do with her for the time being.

"Having fun down there Shepard?"

Jane leaned her head back onto the floor and saw Garrus standing over her. A flash of light temporarily blinded her and she saw Tali standing a few feet further back with her omni-tool facing her. Later on she needed to steal back the photos Tali had most likely taken, "Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is I managed to stop Liara from tearing the ship apart while killing Kasumi."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is," Jane let out a groan of pain. Biotics hurt no matter how many times she was hit with them, "I made a stupid comment and Liara focused her anger on me for doing so."

Garrus chuckled, "That is why I didn't volunteer. I'm smart enough to not get in the way of a pissed off asari."

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Jane was having a relaxing dream in her quarters when the Normandy's artificial gravity cut out as the Tantalus drive temporarily shut down. Still asleep as her body floated out from under her covers she was reintroduced to the ground when the core came back online and gravity reasserted itself. Waking up and shouting several particularly vicious curses she fumbled in her dresser for her omni-tool.

"That's the last straw."

Nursing her most likely bruised shoulder she waited until the connection was made before shouting, "Liara I thought you said you fixed the problem."

There was nothing but silence from the other end before Liara appeared on the screen. The asari seemed to have been sitting at her desk when the gravity had cut out and looked just as annoyed at the interruption as Jane did, "What are you talking about Shepard? I can assure you that I haven't been in the hanger since last evening. I've spent the last few hours attempting to decipher some of the runes carved on its surface."

Jane was confused now. If Liara was in her room that what had caused the malfunction? Pursing her lips as she tried, and failed, to come up with a reason why she asked, "If it wasn't you then who-"

She was cut off as the Normandy's intrusion detectors went off. Cutting Liara off she turned towards her door, "Status report EDI!"

A moment later the artificial intelligence's holographic avatar appeared, _"Commander Shepard, I have detected several bursts of gunfire coming from the hanger. Sensors indicate that Mr. Vakarian had entered the hanger just a few seconds before the sensors picked up the disturbance."_

Jane hastily put on her armor sans helmet and rushed out of her quarters. Instead of waiting for the elevator she kicked the nearby wall, exposing the maintenance shaft. After dealing with the Collectors Joker had explained how he had to crawl through the maintenance tunnels to unshackle EDI and save the Normandy in his own dramatic fashion. After a bit of exploration herself she realized that crawling through them was actually quicker then taking the elevator. Gripping the sides of the ladder she slid down, floor after floor, until she reached the bottom. She didn't care if she had a rough landing, the dampeners in her armor would take care of that. If Garrus was in trouble she needed to go back him up immediately.

Reaching the bottom with none of her bones fractures she kicked out at the emergency panel and rolled into the hanger, her custom M-5 Phalanx pistol already out. She was lucky that the emergency hatch wasn't near the elevator. She didn't need to draw unwanted attention to herself just yet.

It was quite, Jane realized creeping close to the ground. There were no signs of combat and that meant either one of two things. Either whatever the invading force was had managed to overpower Garrus and were heading up into the rest of the ship or EDI was wrong. She leaned behind a crate for cover and was prepared to roll out when it hit her.

"Ugh!"

Jane nearly threw up from the smell. Dry heaving and desperately trying not to breathe in through her nose she walked across the hanger. She really should have worn her helmet.

"Garrus?" she shouted across the hanger.

"Over here Shepard," Garrus's voice replied from behind a nearby crate. A moment later he appeared around the side and shook his head, "You might want to hold your breath. It can get kind of potent."

"You don't seem too disturbed by the smell," she dryly pointed out.

Garrus tapped the side of his face, "Turians don't have weak noses like you humans. Nothing really bothers us."

Jane was about to retort when she noticed splotches of a strange black liquid splattered on his blue armor, "What is that?"

"Oh this?" Garrus grimaced at the offending liquid, "I think it would be better if you see it for yourself but you're not going to believe it."

She looked at Garrus suspiciously before walking in the direction he pointed. As she drew closer to the artifact she began to notice that the smell was becoming more pungent and overwhelming. Forced to cover her nose and mouth up in an attempt to keep some of the smell out she reached the source of the disturbance and realized that Garrus was right; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

There were two of the small creatures and she immediately thought that was two too many. Both of the creatures were clad in what looked like crudely crafted metal and leather armor and had sickly brown skin that appeared to be either molting or rotting. With unsettling beady eyes and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth Jane realized that whatever these things were, they probably weren't friendly.

"What the hell are these things Garrus?"

The Turian shrugged, his flanged voice hinting at his confusion, "Your guess is as good as mine. They look like something a Krogan ate and then spat up. They must have arrived immediately after the power cut out. I heard a loud banging coming from the hanger so I decided to investigate."

"So what happened?" she asked and nudged one of them with her foot only to pull away when it made a disgusting squelching sound.

Garrus dismissively pointed to the elevator. Sticking out of the frame just inches from the doors was a crude metal axe, "As soon as these creatures saw me they shouted in a weird guttural language and tried to kill me. I retaliated and fired a few warning shots but they just kept charging me. It's like they never saw a M-15 Vindicator before. Punched through their armor, or whatever it is they're wearing, with ease."

Jane used her foot to turn over one of the corpses and saw a dozen holes bleeding out onto the hanger, "It took you twelve rounds to bring one of them down? This looks like an iron alloy."

"Antiquated armor aside Shepard, these things were tough. None of my shots seemed to affect them until I shot their hearts…or whatever passes for a heart."

Something was bothering Jane and for a few moments she had nearly forgotten, "How did they get on the Normandy? They sure as hell weren't here yesterday."

"No clue," Garrus shook his head and sat down on a crate, "When I came down they were just walking around the hanger in a daze. I don't think they knew where they were either."

The sound of the elevator approaching broke the silent tension causing them to immediately aim their weapons towards the doors. Admonishing herself for only grabbing her Carnifex from her cabin Jane turned off the semi-automatic fire. If whatever was coming was hostile she needed to aim quickly and carefully.

When the doors opened Garrus and Jane were relieved to see Miranda and Jacob standing inside with their own weapons pointed at them.

"Commander Shepard?" Jacob asked surprised and lowered his M-22 Eviscerator. By his expression he clearly didn't expect her, "What are you doing here? Wait…how did you get down here?"

"Maintenance tunnel."

Garrus chuckled, "It's almost like he didn't notice me hiding over here. I don't think he likes me that much Shepard."

Jane ignored the barb and collapsed her pistol before placing it in its magnetic holster, "There's something you need to see."

"Does it have anything to do with this awful smell?" Miranda said gagging. To Jacob's credit he was dealing with it much better than Jane did if the way he was covering his nose was any indication.

"You could say that," Jane motioned for them to follow her.

One look at the still cooling corpses was enough to make Jacob grimace and Miranda to turn away with a hand covering her mouth. The former soldier knelt down next to one of the bodies and looked it over, "What exactly are these things and how did they get on the ship?"

"Garrus was the first to find them. Apparently they weren't that friendly."

"If I had to guess," the Turian's flanged voice echoed, "I would say it has something to do with this not-so-Prothean relic Shepard picked up as a souvenir."

"Professor Solus should be able to find out more in his lab. Perhaps he can explain where they came from and how they got on this ship. They might be agents of the Reapers," Miranda said from near the elevator.

Garrus leaned back and double-checked his rifle, "I don't know about that. I found no sign of the cybernetic modifications the Collectors had. If these things are working for the reapers then I think the worst thing we need to worry about is the occasional flying axe."

Miranda grimaced, "Even so I want Professor Solus to take a look. Jacob, help Garrus bring one of the corpses up to his lab."

When Miranda left to return to her office Jacob and Garrus shared a collective disgusted look, "I don't want to touch this thing."

"You have a point there," Garrus agreed. It seemed that the smell from the corpses was only getting worse and even he was starting to notice it.

"Miranda only wanted one," Jane called out. A moment later she came walking back holding a M-451 Firestorm she found when she helped Zaeed with his little problem. When she saw their confused looks she sighed, "Look, I don't where these things came from or what they wanted but I do know that the smell cannot be good. Garrus, I want you and Jacob to put on protective gear. There's no telling what crap this thing is carrying."

Jacob nodded, "That's an excellent point Commander but if I may ask, what are you doing with the Firestorm?"

"I'm going to burn the second one," she answered matter-of-factly, "I'm not going to take any chance with this thing still being alive. With my luck we'll come back down here to find the body missing and a trail of blood leading to a ventilation shaft. If there is one thing the reapers have taught me is that they tend to not want to stay dead."

* * *

...

* * *

"This smell is never going to come out."

For what had to be the tenth time Jane ran her armor through the Normandy's sanitizer at its maximum setting. She couldn't understand how the smell had gotten on her when she didn't even touch the creatures or their blood. It was impossible and yet the stink coming from her armor said otherwise. Garrus had suggested throwing her armor at a star and at this point she was seriously considering it. If the worst came to pass she could just buy a new set. It wasn't like she was hurting for credits.

"_Commander Shepard?"_

Jane sighed and saw that the sanitizer had another twenty minutes to go, "What is it EDI?"

"_Professor Solus would like to see you in his lab. He says it is quite urgent."_

"Tell him I will be right down."

"_Logging you out."_

It didn't take long for Jane to leave her cabin and make her way down to Mordin's lab. She thought the Salarian doctor would have left the Normandy at the first opportunity after dealing with the Collectors but Mordin had seemed excited about some of the data recovered from the base and wanted to go over it before returning to Sur'Kesh. She remembered him muttering about adapting the Collector genetic modifications to Krogans and other species.

When she finally reached his lab she saw that she was not the only one there. It seemed that every member of the crew was either standing outside the lab or huddled around a table inside. Apparently EDI had decided to call her last. Muscling her way past everyone she saw the ex-STG standing in front of a covered table wearing a protective suit.

"Glad you're here Shepard," the salarian said in his usually quick and precise speech pattern, "Much to discuss. Many questions but not so many answers. Results…puzzling."

"Now that the commander is here can someone please explain why this room smells like a bloody dump?" Zaeed Masani growled.

"Ah yes," Mordin nodded quickly to thoughts racing through his mind, "Smell from rapid decay of body. Body most likely decays at an abnormal rate compared to other species. Interesting. Could lead to breakthrough in organic recycling if studied correctly."

"It's a good thing Jack's not here anymore commander," Joker added. The pilot had put EDI in charge of flying the Normandy in order to see what was going on, "With how little she wears she might be tempted to take her very first shower."

Tali shook her head nervously and asked Joker, "The smell is that bad?"

The pilot scratched at his stubble, "If I had to guess I would say it's a mix of week-old vorcha droppings, a sweaty Krogan, and some fish someone left in the sun. You can't smell it? Wait, do quarians even have noses?"

The young quarian gave another shake of her covered head, "I had my suit's olfactory filters turned to their max since Omega and never turned them back off. Should I turn it off?"

Garrus gave her a nudge, "I wouldn't exactly recommend it. This thing makes Omega look like a clean room."

"Keelah…"

Nearby Kasumi adopted a pensive posture, "This reminds me of one of those old-fashioned movies. You know, the ones before holograms became popular."

"I don't think this thing is an orc," Joker challenged, "First of all it's not green and second, it's much too short to be an orc."

"Good point," Kasumi said with a smirk.

Wanting to get this over with before she developed a migraine Jane asked, "So what did you find out Mordin?"

"Glad you asked Shepard," Mordin began reading off data from his omni-tool, "Results biologically fascinating. Specimen appears to be levo-based as is common with most species. Detected high levels of enterotoxins and hemotoxins in blood and tissue samples. Analysis suggests both are in form of highly permeable fluids. Can easily pass through skin. Extended contact increases risk of exposure exponentially."

At Mordin's calm explanation of a painful and excruciating death everyone took a step back away from the table. No one was more upset then Garrus.

"Er…perhaps I should go take another shower?" Garrus asked.

"Nonsense," Mordin dismissed Garrus's concerns with a wave of his hand, "Toxins are levo-based. Would have reduced to no effect on dextro species. Ran tests on blood samples. Contact would have no reaction on turians and quarians. At most would lead to symptoms resembling cold."

"Do you know how they boarded the Normandy Professor Solus?"

Mordin pondered Miranda's question for almost a minute before answering, "Puzzling question. Many plausible hypotheses. Most likely arrived through some form of point-to-point teleportation similar to relay network."

"That's impossible," Miranda countered, "The Illusive Man sank millions of credits into developing PTP teleportation with nothing to show for it. Even the Protheans were unable to create anything more then the Conduit before the Reapers arrived."

"Cause of appearance not important in long run," Mordin took a deep breath, "Autopsy of corpse highly intriguing. Biology of subject suggests predatory nature. Shape of ears, teeth, and positions of eyes suggests carnivorous diet. Lack of higher mental functions evident from reduced prefrontal cortex."

"This thing was smart enough to throw an axe at me Mordin," Garrus said.

"Hmm…odd. Cerebral development indicates lack of reasoning and creative thinking. Crude tools should be beyond capabilities…intriguing."

"What does that mean?" Jane asked.

Mordin fiddled with his omni-tool for a moment, "Lack of higher intelligence only tip of iceberg…sorry, human expression. Several organs similar, but not the same, as human and asari."

"Are you suggesting this thing was once human?" Zaeed sneered at the cooling corpse.

"Merely most likely hypothesis given current data," Mordin continued to scan the corpse with his omni-tool, "Many species have coevolved similar organ structures due to comparable environments. Turians and Raloi, for instance, have avian-like organs. Scans show specimen has 75% similarity to human and 65% to asari organ shape."

"By the goddess," Liara said from the other side of the room. It was clear that Samara, despite her attempts to continue remaining stoic, was also in disgust at this piece of information, "Are you suggesting asari are related to that thing?"

"Like I said, improbable," Mordin answered with rare emotion in his voice The salarian did not like having to repeat himself, "DNA shows extensive crude rewriting. Lack of telomeres and repetitive mutations suggests most likely done over single generation. Could be cause of similarities."

"Just how dangerous are these creatures Professor Solus?" Jacob asked.

"Hmm…hard to say without live specimen to run tests on. Difficult without observing creature in natural habitat. Can see that muscle fibers are densely packed. Could be relatively as strong as a Turian but unsure. Need…live sample."

"That makes me feel so much better," Joker said sarcastically and adjusted his hat, "Why didn't you just burn this one as well Commander?"

"Cannot burn," Mordin insisted, "Find of decade, no, century. Could rewrite several theories of biology. Also medicinal benefits from blood. Extensive testing needed."

Joker just waved off the scientist's warning, "You do that. I'm going to grab the Firestorm from the armory in case this thing decides to go all John Carpenter's the Thing on us."

"The cripple has a point," Zaeed said, much to Joker's chagrin, "We just got finished fighting the bloody Collectors. What's to suggest this thing isn't just playing dead?"

"Aside from the twelve bullet holes? I couldn't possibly come up with a good reason," Garrus chuckled.

"Logical question. Collectors had cybernetic implants that enabled bodies to fight past point of death," Mordin explained, "Still, needed to be careful. Had lab repurposed since Collector Base. Specimen contained in negative pressure chamber. Motion sensors should go off if any movement is detected from within. Vacuum sealed…no worries."

"This still leaves the question as to how they got on the Normandy," Miranda reminded everyone, "They were certainly not on the ship yesterday. Therefore we can only assume that whatever method these creatures have for getting here can bypass our defenses."

"How can we bloody fight something that can teleport all willy-nilly wherever it fucking wants?"

"_I have a suggestion."_

EDI's voice cut through the lab as everyone grew silent, _"Four point three minutes before Mr. Vakarian engaged the hostiles I detected a unique energy signature originating from the hanger. With some assistance I should be able to predict any further incursions with at least a minute warning."_

"I might be able to create a program to help EDI," Tali offered, "But I'll need a sample of the energy. After that it shouldn't take more than a day to finish the program."

"You have twelve hours," Miranda ordered, "Commander, I suggest arming the crew and staying on high alert. Who knows where on the ship these things will appear next. Their weapons may be crude but they can cause some damage."

Jane hummed to herself as she tried to come up with a plan. Countering an enemy that might have teleportation technology was frightening but could still be done with the proper strategies. The only question is how to go about it, "I want four hour shifts in groups of two in the hanger. Since these creatures only appeared there so far it can be safe to assume they are somehow connected with the artifact. I also want at least one person to be a biotic. Any volunteers for the first shift?"

"I would like to offer my services Shepard," Samara's serene voice said.

"You can count me in Shep," Kasumi offered, "I've always wondered why you never took me with Samara."

Samara didn't express any emotion, "The reason the commander has not done so is simple. You are the thief that stole a twelve thousand year old copy of the Justicar Code from the Historical Museum of Thessia. The code clearly states that I am to terminate you with extreme prejudice but since you saved my life I am required to give you a single reprieve. If you revert back to your earlier ways I will be forced to apprehend you."

"Glad to see we're getting along so well," Kasumi smiled and disappeared using her tactical cloak, most likely to get ready for her shift.

With a potential problem settled Jane turned to Mordin, "Is there anything else?"

Mordin seemed pensive, "Yes. Need to talk to you in private."

Everyone seemed to take that as a sign to leave and prepare themselves. Only Miranda and Liara lingered back but a quick word from Jane had them gone just the same. As soon as the lab was empty apart from her and Mordin, the salarian hurriedly walked to the door and locked it.

"What's wrong Mordin?"

The scientist sounded extremely upset, "Had Doctor Chakwas take neurological scans of brain. Results…disturbing."

Something cold ran down Jane's spine, "Are you suggesting these creatures were indoctrinated?"

"No way to tell. Without live sample to compare with specimen's brain can only conjecture. Still…found signs of neurological tampering similar to that of reaper technology. Same areas of brain that were affected in Matriarch Benezia-"

"Wait a second. When did you managed to do that?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on the scientist's face, "May not be STG anymore but still have clearance. Brought in by Councilor Tevos to inspect Matriarch Benezia's body. Was surprised to find mental degradation. Tevos seemed shocked and…relieved."

"She expected Benezia to be indoctrinated?"

"Reaction suggested councilor was intimately familiar with matriarch but we are getting off track. Back on topic now. Brain of specimen similar to indoctrination but much more crude. Suggests an amateurish attempt."

"So it wasn't the reapers then?" That was a huge relief to Jane. The reapers would never waste potential resources.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Hard to tell without additional proof," Mordin hummed a familiar tune to himself before remembering she was still there, "You can go commander. Must run additional tests on specimen. Make sure I didn't miss anything."

Jane silently walked out of the lab, her mind in turmoil from all the new information Mordin had discovered. If it wasn't bad enough that these creatures had gotten on board the Normandy she also had to find out that they were under a primitive form of indoctrination. Whatever or whoever did this to them didn't do it for charity. They were purposely breeding them but towards what end or where she didn't know.

"So, what did Mordin want that was so secret?"

She looked up and saw Garrus waiting by the elevator. She shrugged, "Just some unrelated but classified information about our new guests."

"I don't like this Shepard. There's an old saying my father used to say back on Palaven about a turian and a wounded Krogan. It may look harmless and beg for mercy but if you let your guard down for a single instance it'll tear your mandibles off."

Jane understood what he was saying, "You don't think this is a one time thing?"

The elevator dinged, "Not a chance."

* * *

...

* * *

"Come on you little bosh'tet…"

Miranda ignored Tali's outburst. It wasn't the first time since their shift started that the quarian had let loose with several curses that even her translator couldn't decipher. Rolling her eyes she continued to read the datapad in her hand. It seemed that leaving Cerberus was much more difficult and dangerous than even she had anticipated. She knew from personal experience what happened to those that betrayed the Illusive Man or grew consciences and tried to leave. She was confident that as long as Kai Leng wasn't sent after her she would be fine. All she needed to do was find a new safe place for Oriana to live. She knew the Illusive Man was petty enough to kidnap her sister or worse just to get back at Miranda.

Perched on a table at the base of the artifact was a subsonic frequency detector. Cerberus design of course. EDI and Tali had programmed it to detect the sub-harmonic frequencies that the reapers were known to indoctrinate sentient creatures with. The moment anything was picked up by it the alarms in the hanger and the rest of the Normandy go off. So far the device had not registered anything even close to indoctrination but that did not make Miranda feel any better.

A quick shudder ran through Miranda's body and she glanced at the large object that was the cause of everything going on. Her image, perfectly reflected in the polished surface, stared back at her and she didn't understand the odd feeling she had. It was like she was on the verge of falling through the sky.

The recognizable swish of the elevator doors opening was a thankful reprieve for Miranda. Peeling her eyes away from the object she stood up as Jane and Jacob entered the hanger.

"Report."

"Nothing out of the ordinary Commander," Miranda answered with none of the nervousness she was experiencing evident in her voice.

"And Tali?"

"Tali'Zorah has been working on getting the program to work but without the required energy signature it's hopeless."

"Bosh'tet!" Tali growled and shut down her omni-tool in anger, "My program works fine. It's just unable to pick up anything near this stupid thing!"

"But wouldn't that mean it doesn't work?" Jacob hesitantly asked.

Tali glared at him with such intensity that Jacob took a step back in shock. Most people knew better then to say Tali'Zorah vas Normandy didn't know her way around programming, "It works fine on every other machine and device on the Normandy, even EDI! But this thing doesn't have a hint of circuitry in it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that either the power surges are being beamed in from an external source or whoever built this was much more advanced then initially thought," Miranda offered with a bit of awe in her voice, "If that is the case then whoever built this was even more advanced then the reapers."

"Unfortunately she's right Shepard," Tali admitted with more than a little venom in her voice, "But I'm going to get this stupid program to work even if it kills me!"

The sheer amount of venom in Tali's voice scared Jane slightly, "Well luckily your shift is over. Why don't you get some rest and work on it later?"

Tali nodded and followed Miranda to the elevator. With any luck she would be able to figure out what the hell's going on. Turning around as the doors closed Jane saw Jacob standing near the artifact and staring intently at the polished surface, as if there was something there that only he could see.

"What is it Jacob?"

Jacob shook his head and took a step back, "It's nothing commander. I'm just trying to figure out what this thing actually is."

Her interest was peaked, "What do you mean?"

"It's not something I can easily explain," the biotic stuttered. Jacob rubbed the back of his neck and stared up at the relic, "I've encountered a lot of reaper artifacts on our missions. Each and every one of them had my skin crawling and made me feel paranoid. This thing though, it's giving me an entirely different feeling."

Jane remained silent as he continued, "When I look into the surface I can see…things in the corner of my eye. Moving shapes and shadows but when I actually look at them they're no longer there. It's like something out of a bad horror movie commander. I don't like it."

"As long as Miranda's detector doesn't go off we just need to put up with it for four hours."

"Understood commander but if you don't mind I'm going to spend that time doing inventory of the new weapons we picked up from the Citadel."

Jane watched the armory chief disappear behind several crates and sympathized with him. It seemed that this thing was having adverse effects on everyone that could use biotics. First it was Samara who claimed being in the same room as the object caused her a good deal of unease and then there was Miranda. Jane wasn't blind nor stupid, she had seen the suspicious looks the ex-Cerberus agent had given the relic and despite the calm tone of her voice the commander sensed the nervousness and quickened pace easily enough. Jacob's reaction was only further proof that something about the artifact bothered biotics but until she spontaneously developed biotic powers herself she would never know.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes stretched into hours and Jane was beginning to suspect that for once nothing would happen on her shift. It was an odd feeling to her but she wasn't adverse to it. Even Jacob, despite his continuing apprehension of the relic, had begun to relax though he wouldn't approach it. Perhaps nothing else would happen and whatever caused those creatures to appear was a one time deal?

"_Who am I kidding?"_ she thought, _"With my luck there's going to be an invasion of those things."_

Running a tired hand down her face she looked at her omni-tool. It had been nearly three hours and still nothing had happened. Leaning back in her makeshift chair she had just started getting comfortable when her omni-tool began blaring. Looking at her wrist she saw it was a priority one call, highest security, and answered it. Within moments Liara's head appeared and she looked frantic.

"Shepard, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Liara," Jane answered confused. Across the hanger Jacob seemed to have overheard Liara and drew closer, "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain," Liara's head momentarily disappeared from the screen and Jane realized the asari was hunching over her desk, "I've managed to translate only a small piece of the written language on the artifact."

Jane looked at Jacob and the soldier sighed and began opening a weapons crate. They both knew that by the end of the hour they were going to have to fight something.

"Just how bad is it Liara?"

"You know how I said it feeds off biotic energy? The Protheans were using it as a biotic power source but they didn't understand what they were dealing with. It's able to transmit power from an external source and simple proximity to a biotic is enough to open the connection. You need to get Jacob out of there now!"

The soldier had overheard and was already making his way to the elevator. It wouldn't do well to cause another invasion. Before he could press the call elevator button the lights in the hanger flickered a couple of times before going out completely. A couple of seconds later the emergency lighting, run on internal batteries, turned on and bathed the area in a dim brown and yellow.

Jacob cursed, "That is _not_ a good sign."

"Get backup down here as quickly as possible Liara and make sure everyone is armed," Jane ordered and cut the communication short. Raising her Carnifex she glanced around the remaining shadows in the hanger, the blue and red holographic readout causing her face to glow in an eerie light.

"Do you see anything Jacob?"

"No commander," the soldier replied as he used his omni-tool as a makeshift flashlight.

"Damn," Jane cursed. Why did these things have to happen to her?

"Commander take a look at that."

Following his line of sight Jane nearly cursed at her bad luck. The runes wrapped around the outer rim of the artifact had begun to glow a familiar blue and the polished surface almost looked as if were rippling. Raising a fist she silently motioned for Jacob to circle around the hanger. Hopefully as long as Jacob refrained from using his biotics the number of contacts should remain minimal.

Two silent minutes passed with nothing happening. When a loud thump echoed from the wall behind her Jane almost opened fire before realizing, with a small amount of humor, that she was standing in front of the maintenance hatch. She watched as the same panel she used earlier popped off and hit the ground with an echoing thud.

"Turians were not built for sneaking," Garrus groaned and rolled his shoulder, "Well, coming to your rescue is a nice change Shepard."

Before he could say anything else he was pushed forward by an armored foot, "Get out of the bloody way you damn idiot."

"Zaeed?"

"You expecting the fucking tooth fairy?" the mercenary sneered and stood up. Apparently the emergency shaft was a much tighter fit then she remembered, "What's the situation?"

Jane pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, "Normal stuff."

Zaeed spat on the floor, "I bloody knew something like this was going to happen. So what's the plan commander?"

"Prepare for the worst. Circle around the hanger and meet up with Jacob on the other side. With luck we can blindside whatever shows up before it knows what hit it."

The mercenary quickly took up a position on the other side of the hanger and started counting all the various armaments he was able to carry down on such short notice. He had several inferno grenades and his trusty M-96 Mattock that, while not as good as his Jessie, would give whatever crawled out of the ground a few new holes.

"Shepard isn't paying me enough for back-to-back suicide missions," he growled.

Garrus clicked off the safety on his own rifle and smirked at Jane, "Just like old times Shepard. Fighting against a mysterious enemy, no clue what's going on, unsure if we're going to make it back."

"If I didn't know better I'd say you missed this Garrus."

The Turian shrugged, "Well, maybe a little. If it's just more of those little gremlins come then I think we'll be fine."

As if waiting for those exact words to be spoken the runes encircling the artifact abruptly stopped glowing. As the brightest source of light in the hanger disappeared and their eyes began to adjust to the enveloping darkness the polished surface suddenly burst into an intense white light.

Jane covered her eyes with a forearm to ward off the light and quickly ducked behind a crate to prevent herself from going blind, "Did this happen last time Garrus?"

He shook his head, "I must have missed the opening fireworks. When I came down that thing was done with whatever it's doing and left some friends for me to play with."

She sighed, "Oh great."

In less then a minute the light began to die down and Jane slowly peered around her cover. What she saw wasn't anything close to what she expected, _"What the fuck is that thing?"_

Jane ducked her head back behind cover before the creature saw her. Unlike what happened with Garrus only one creature came through this time but its size more then made up for the lack of numbers. The creature stood at least nine feet tall when hunched over, had ashen grey skin, large imposing horns curving around both sides of its head, and had to be at least half a ton of muscle.

"Shepard. What the hell is that thing? It's bigger then any Krogan I've ever seen." Garrus whispered from his cover.

"Even the Shadow Broker wasn't that big."

"Shadow Broker Shepard?"

"Long story," Jane dismissively told him.

Garrus grunted and took another look at the ogre, "So how do we kill something like this?"

"I have no idea," she answered, "But we have to take that thing down before it destroys the entire hanger. On my signal aim for its heart and head."

Garrus nodded and drew his weapon. Several agonizing seconds passed before Jane flicked her wrist. As one they both aimed out of cover and sprayed dozens of rounds into the ogre's body. The creature staggered backwards in pain from the number of projectiles but to their frustration it was completely unharmed. Its skin was just too tough for the bullets to penetrate. When the ogre turned towards them and let out a roar, Jane and Garrus sprinted out of cover as it literally threw a half ton crate at them.

"Fire in the hole!"

At the sound of Zaeed's voice Jane covered her ears. A few seconds later she felt the telltale heat signature of an inferno grenade, courtesy of Zaeed, going off and from the pressure the mercenary must have thrown it almost on top of the ogre. As smoke and dust filled the hanger around her Jane's ears picked up a series of lumbering footsteps. She quickly rolled out of the way just as the ogre smashed the ground with its remaining arm. Zaeed's inferno grenade had literally disintegrated everything below the left elbow but the ogre seemed more pissed off then hurt.

"What the hell's this bastard made out of?" Zaeed's surprised voice shouted as he primed another inferno grenade.

The ogre must have sensed the mercenary's intentions because it immediately switched focus from Jane to him. With a roar it charged, giving the man only seconds to move out of the way before it barreled through the hanger and into the wall.

"This thing is like three pissed off krograns in a single body Shepard," Garrus commented, "Any suggests on taking this thing down?"

"Do you still have Legion's M-98 Widow?"

Garrus's eyes widened in realization, "Where do you want the shot?"

Across the hanger Zaeed and Jacob were having a hard time taking down the ogre. For all the damage the grenade did it seemed that bullets were next to useless and simply bounced off the creatures skin like they were rubber. Zaeed had faced down angry Krogan before but even he didn't feel like getting in close quarter combat with something like this.

"Bloody hell this thing is tough," Zaeed growled, "Light it up Jacob!"

"I've tried!" the biotic yelled and peppered the ogre's back with his shotgun. It seemed to work as the creature turned around to focus its growing rage on him, "It's too heavy!"

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Zaeed spat.

Jacob continued to be forced backwards by the ogre. The creature had decided to ignore anything Zaeed was hitting it with to focus solely on the biotic. As he back hit the wall of the hanger he cursed and ducked as the ogre tried to punch him. When the creature started to pull its fist out of the indented wall Jacob took the opportunity to retreat.

"Get out of the way!"

As Zaeed lobbed another inferno grenade at the ogre Jacob dove to the ground and covered his head. He expected the familiar burst of heat but the creature smacked the explosive while it was still in the air. The grenade sailed through the hanger and exploded near the docked shuttle, bathing the whole area in various shades of red and orange. As pieces of rubble and metal fell to the ground around him Jacob picked up his head and looked around and saw no sign of the ogre.

"Move you fucking idiot!"

Jacob rolled onto his back only for the ogre to pin him to the ground with its foot. The creature was snarling in rage and its body was covered in burns from Zaeed's grenades. Undaunted Jacob continued to fire his Eviscerator into the ogre even as its remaining arm raised a large piece of the shuttle to skewer him with. As it was about to swing it down on him a sound similar to a crack of thunder ranger through the hanger.

Garrus grinned, "Scoped and dropped."

Black blood squirted out of the hole that was once the ogre's left eye. The creature stumbled back and managed to remain upright a few seconds before crashing to the ground and laying still.

Jane rushed over to Jacob as Zaeed examined the ogre, "Any injuries?"

"I'm fine," Jacob coughed and winced. It would be lucky if he only broke a few ribs, "My armor managed to absorb the brunt of that thing's weight. What the hell was it anyway?"

"No fucking clue but it's dead now," the mercenary growled and shot the ogre's other eye out for good measure, "I've seen many things in my day but nothing like this. You ever seen anything like this?"

Jane shook her head, "This is new to me but we know where these things come from and how they're getting on the Normandy. As soon as EDI manages to restore power to the ship the hanger is off limits. There's no telling what will come out next."

"That's fine by me Shepard. I already filled my quota of insane shit with you," Garrus sighed and groaned, "At this point I wouldn't be surprised if we fight an army of…what's that human word…zombies brought to life by a mysterious artifact."

"Don't jinx it Vakarian," Zaeed warned and shoved the turian towards the emergency hatch. With the power still out and tempers still high after the battle it was going to be a long and awkward climb back up, "We don't want to give this thing any ideas on how to surprise us next."

Jane remained behind until the rest of her team were safely on their way back. Before beginning the climb herself she risked one final look at the artifact. Despite the rubble and damage done to the hanger from the fight it still remained intact and undamaged even though she knew one of Zaeed's grenades landed not ten feet away from it. As she turned to climb the ladder she could have sworn she saw the surface of the object ripple ever so slightly.


End file.
